Dhaka:
Bangladesh Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman has acknowledged that there is a serious problem in his country with a rapidly worsening law and order situation. Blaming it on the political turmoil, leading to a sociopolitical crisis, the army chief said the situation is so dire now, that citizens are constantly “preoccupied with vilifying each other”.
Speaking at an armed forces function, Gen Zaman said “The anarchy we have witnessed is of our own making”. He also shared his concern over the extremely inefficient police force, saying that officers across the board – from senior to junior ranks – were afraid, because their peers were either facing judicial cases or were jailed.
This, he said, brings even more responsibility on the armed forces as law and order has faced a collapse.
“There is an urgent need for national unity and institutional discipline,” the army chief said, adding that continuous and rapidly growing infighting in society puts Bangladesh’s sovereignty at immense risk.
“If you can’t move beyond your differences and continue meddling and fighting among yourselves, and if you continue to injure and kill one another, the independence and integrity of the country will be at risk – I warn you,” the army chief said in an appeal to Bangladeshi citizens. He also said that “I have no other aspirations. For the past seven to eight months, I have had enough”.
“Since stakeholders are busy accusing each other, miscreants find the situation favourable. They believe they can get away with anything,” he added, without naming any political groups or factions.
Gen Zaman further noted that the gains of the student-led revolution that toppled the Sheikh Hasina government last August were at a risk too. General Waker-Uz-Zaman had taken over as Bangladesh’s army chief after Ms Hasina fled to India amid widespread protests in the country.
Bangladesh has seen a surge in violence, vandalism, rioting, and other forms of criminal activity over the last few months. It had reached to such extremes by February, that security forces had to launch an offensive called ‘Operation Devil Hunt’. In less than three weeks, 8,600 people were arrested. Bangladesh’s interim government has accused these individuals of attempting to “destabilise the country”.
Bangladesh has a long history of military coups. After Sheikh Hasina’s ouster, the armed forces were granted judicial powers like the police, including arresting citizens. Amid a raft of allegations of enforced disappearances, murder, and torture of citizens, the army chief warned that such matters “must be investigated”.
“Punishment must be ensured,” he said. “Otherwise, we will be trapped in the same cycle.”
Urging people to support the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus and assuring them of election as soon as possible, the army chief, who had sworn in the interim government. said “At the beginning, I had said it would take 18 months to hold an election. We are on that path. Professor Yunus is doing his best to keep us united. Let’s help him.”
Mr Yunus has said that Bangladesh will hold general elections in late 2025 or in early 2026.
Meanwhile, key student protest leader Nahid Islam has resigned from the interim government cabinet – where he headed the telecom ministry – ahead of the expected launch of a new political party on Friday, February 28.
(Inputs from AFP)